The main goal of our research is to develop biomaterial scaffolds to investigate cellular interactions with their environment and to harness this information to develop therapies using drug delivery or tissue engineering strategies to combat life-threatening diseases. Our research primarily focuses on type 1 diabetes (T1D), and the goals of the current research projects in the lab are to 1) understand the role of extracellular matrix interactions in cellular death and dysfunction during the onset and progression of T1D, 2) identify novel mechanisms leading to pancreatic islet dysfunction and death during the pathogenesis of T1D, and 3) develop therapies which preserve islet function and mass after the onset of disease.
We recently acquired a confocal microscope for live cell quantitative microscopy that expands our resources to quantitatively study biological systems on the Mines campus.
Principal Investigator: Assistant Professor Nikki Farnsworth, Chemical and Biological Engineering
Keywords: Biomaterials, Type 1 Diabetes, Microscopy